Thursday, September 07, 2006

It's the first week of September! This month's theme is "Themes by Rock Stars"

The Batman, by The Edge

The Batman debuted on the WB! on September 11, 2001. Unlike the previous Batman: the Animated Series from 1992, this Batman was new to the game. Bruce Wayne has only been Batman for three years. He is still learning how to be a detective and a superhero.

Classic villains like the Joker, Penguin and Catwoman are constant threats to the Dark Knight, as well as modern Batman villains like Black Mask, Ragdoll and Spellbinder. Many of the villains are voiced by some very notable people including Ron Pearlman, Dan Castellanella, Clancy Brown, Gina Gershin and Brandon Routh just to name a few!

The series has, what some people are calling, a pseudo-anime style similar to the Jackie Chan Adventures. Comicbook artist Jeff Matsuda redesigned all the characters for the show along with some new personalities. Many fans, especially fans of Batman: TAS, didn't like the show because it was not as dark and it strayed to far from the comicbooks (Batgirl appeared in Season 3 becoming Batman's partner. Robin is making his debut in this year's Season 4).

I was one of the many who didn't like this show. I am a huge fan of the original animated series and to me this was an abomination. I stayed far away from it until Season One came out on DVD. I decided to give it a shot. What I found was solid animation, good stories and plenty of action. I am a converted fan.

The theme song to The Batman was composed and performed by U2's The Edge and sets the feel for the dark, mysterious and often fast paced Gotham City. The song was replaced in Season 3 for a new song composed by Andy Sturmer who also wrote the Teen Titans theme song for Puffy Ami Yumi.

6 comments:

Eli
said...

Yeah, I told you it was good. The thing is, it's basically a completely different show from BTAS, and for some reason, everybody tries to compare them. They may share the same characters, but beyond that, it's totally different. With Batman Beyond being similar in style to BTAS it only made sense for them to try a new style.

This show has really grown on me. I really like the animation style and designs (with the exception of the moneyized joker). the original theme is quite catchy... until the very end vocal, "the baaaaatmaaaaaaaaan." still i much prefer the original Edge version to the 60's tv show throwback style of the new theme.

They REPLACED it?? Are they mad?? They get someone like The Edge to take time out of his extremely busy schedule to write a one-minute long theme song for a cartoon...and then they ditch it two years later??

That's just messed up...

Thanks for that extra little commentary by Edge...we U2 fanatics appreciate it :P

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